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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Wow. Amazing. Prescient. Can't believe I hadn't read any Octavia Butler before. This definitely fits in my favorite genre, science fiction for anthropologists.
This book is... hard to describe. I wanted to love it as much as everyone else seems to. I wanted to love it as much as I loved Parable of the Sower.
And I really liked it at first. The Oankali are extremely interesting and I loved hearing about their lives, their culture, their way of living. They're so fully realized and I wish more scifi books delved deep into what their aliens are like.
It went really downhill for me though once I mean... it was a really great study of human psychology. But man oh man did it stress me out so much, because I could picture those exact scenarios playing out. It felt like I was taken on a nice bit of an escapism journey learning about the Oankali, and then suddenly slapped with reminders of .
But of course, Butler did an incredible job showing Lilith's complex emotions. There's a lot to think about here, especially regarding consent, human psychology, violence, culture, and survival.
All in all, I'm not sure how I would rate this book. I'm going to leave it unrated until I have more time to think about this.
And I really liked it at first. The Oankali are extremely interesting and I loved hearing about their lives, their culture, their way of living. They're so fully realized and I wish more scifi books delved deep into what their aliens are like.
It went really downhill for me though once
Spoiler
Lilith started to awaken more humans.Spoiler
AND I JUST WANT HUMANS TO BE BETTER AND THEY AREN'T and it sucks a lot. Not to mention, I really did not care for any of the humans aside from Lilith. They had no redeeming qualities for me.Spoiler
how absolutely shitty people can beBut of course, Butler did an incredible job showing Lilith's complex emotions. There's a lot to think about here, especially regarding consent, human psychology, violence, culture, and survival.
All in all, I'm not sure how I would rate this book. I'm going to leave it unrated until I have more time to think about this.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Utterly unique, I can see why Octavia Butler is considered such a groundbreaking icon based just on having read this and Kindred.
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Violence, Colonisation
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is meant to make us think about what it means to be human. However all the human characters speak english and seem to be from the US. A part of the plot is that these people survived because they were in the "global south" at the time of the war. You mean to tell me no one who was not American survived? Why?
The characters are selfish, violent and appear to value "freedom" above all. I don't know, as someone from outside the US it sounds like this is what americans would do if abducted (same shit they do on earth to us now). Maybe if the characters came from different countries, backgrounds... I would have found it more interesting. It is a good premise and I enjoyed some of it but... ugh.
The characters are selfish, violent and appear to value "freedom" above all. I don't know, as someone from outside the US it sounds like this is what americans would do if abducted (same shit they do on earth to us now). Maybe if the characters came from different countries, backgrounds... I would have found it more interesting. It is a good premise and I enjoyed some of it but... ugh.